Credit Card Diet – Top Secrets

Posted by Nikitas Tsoukalis on October 9, 2013

Credit Card Diet – Top Secrets

Is your spending out of control? Your plastic habit could be to blame. Studies show that we spend as much as 18% more when we pay with credit instead of cash. The reasons for this are myriad: we tend to round up our spendable money to what our credit limit allows; we don’t feel the dollars leaving us the way we do with cash; and, the fact that we don’t have to pay the bill till later lets us make the cost of that new outfit a problem for another day.To combat the heavier spending of credit cards, many people are trying experiments in going cash-only. During the credit-free time,

they take the cards out of their wallet and, instead, go only with cash. Intrigued? Here’s how to do your own cash-only experiment:

Don’t set the bar too high. Start with a short no-plastic period, such as a week. In future outings, you can go longer.

Decide on the rules. Will you withdraw all your spending money for the week, or are trips to the bank allowed?

Review your spending to find out how much cash you’ll need. How much do you spend on groceries each week? How about gas?

Know that some things, like clothes shopping, might be off-limits during your cash days. But, make sure you build in a bit of fun spending such as a restaurant meal so you don’t feel deprived.